Steps
by Halfling Rogue
Summary: Every journey begins with a single step. TidusYuna.


**A.N.** This is for my sister, because I owe her one, and she deserves several. If anyone catches any grammar/spelling errors, please let me know so I can fix them.  
**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy X, the characters and plot thereof are the creation and copyright of Square Enix and their staff. I can only hope to aspire to reach their heights someday. In the meantime I'll have to be satisfied with imitating their stuff.

**Steps**

"A journey begins with a single step."  
- Anonymous

"Um, I saw that aeon thing. That's amazing!"

"We can talk more. You can tell me all about Zanarkand!"

Yuna lay awake in her bed, the conversation playing itself over in her mind. She couldn't sleep. Wakka and Lulu had ordered her to bed early, claiming that she would need all the rest she could get for the journey ahead of them tomorrow. But outside, the small celebration held in honor of her becoming a full Summoner was still in sway, lights and laughter floating in the hot air, conversation and even the mutterings of the odd chocobo drifting through her open window.

_They're all so happy for me._

But there were times, like now, when she wasn't sure how much happiness it was worth. Yes, she was now a full Summoner, a rare vocation even for experienced adults, much less a young girl like herself. If she succeeded and completed her pilgrimage, if she could defeat Sin, she would earn another Calm for her people, like her father had, one that by now was direly needed.

_These last few years, Sin has been even more relentless than usual. City after city has been destroyed, and the people have had no relief from the suffering and the death. Only the Summoners can give them that. Only people like me can offer them rest, the little bit of breathing room that they need so much._

But...

At the end of that pilgrimage, if she succeeded, she would die. She wasn't afraid to die, Yuna thought; it had scared her when she was a child, when it was her father who was the one going to his predestined death, but now she was sure she knew how he had felt, a little bit. She had had all her years of training as an apprentice Summoner to come to terms with her ending.

_My story will come to an end a little sooner, that's all. It's worth it to lengthen the lives of so many others, people whose stories would otherwise be cut even shorter than mine._

Stories whose endings she would have to Send, now or later, to the Farplane. The Sending was, in and of itself, a beautiful ceremony; when she was younger Yuna had taken great delight in learning the graceful steps and swings of the dance. But that was before she knew, before she had seen its heart...

It was part of an apprentice Summoner's training, to accompany a full Summoner at least once to a site of travesty or horror, to steel them against things to come and see for themselves what would be expected of them once they became full Summoners themselves. Many apprentices, if they decided not to become a Summoner, did so after facing what had come to be called the "Apprentices' Trial". It was a deeply disturbing thing, to witness the depth of what Sin could cause, and the Summoners had to take in those sights, hold them close to their hearts, and make something better out of them. It often left scars that would not heal, and not everyone was strong enough to withstand that.

Yuna believed that she was strong enough. But she also believed that she would not relish the performance of her first Sending. At all.

It was different for a Summoner to die. Summoners drew their strength from the teachings of Yevon, were upheld by His promise of new life in the Farplane, one meant to erase the pain of leaving the world of earthly life. It was what they were taught from the moment they began they're training, the foundation of their mission, their deepest and most enforced belief. One they could not afford to lose.

But ordinary people... Yuna didn't think that they didn't understand, but it was hard for people to have their destinies ended so quickly, often before their time. For a Summoner, the ending was the destiny. For others the ending was often a cruel and unfair thing, and that was why the Sending was necessary, to prevent that sense of injustice from warping the souls into fiends. But Yuna didn't doubt, deep inside her heart, that when she was called to perform a Sending each and every feeling of being _wronged_, somehow, would imprint itself on her own spirit.

_I'm... afraid. If I have to perform too many Sendings, how strong will that feeling get? Will it overwhelm my teachings? What will I have left, if I ever regain my fear of the end?_

No. She had to stay true to herself, to what she knew to be true. _No matter how many lives I touch, no matter how many Sendings I have to perform, I will always be me_, she said to herself, firmly, then repeated it aloud for good measure, holding the words tight. _It's a promise._

She couldn't afford to question the worth of her actions, the results of her teachings, that might culminate in a Calm that would be oh so short, just like every one that came before it. _Any Calm at all is a Calm worth fighting for,_ Yuna reminded herself, sternly. _Now think of something else._

Predictably enough, her mind circled back to the blonde haired boy who had approached her at the celebration, and "intruded" on her Trial.

_Well, he's more of a young man than a "boy". I think he's my age, or maybe a bit older. I wonder who he is?_

Wakka had told her his name, she was sure. Something that reminded her of beginnings(1), of oceans...

_Tidus. And he said he's from Zanarkand. It can't just be a coincidence, and it explains why he didn't seem to know anything about the rules of the Trial._

Although she had the sneaking suspicion that even if he had, he wouldn't have acted any differently. He had a feeling around him, of being the sort of person who did what he thought was right and forgot about anything that didn't agree with him. Yuna had been warned against people like him by her instructors and the priests, who claimed that that sort of person was given to rebellion and crime against the teachings of Yevon, no better than the Al Bhed.

_But I'm... intrigued by him. And I know that the Al Bhed aren't bad, no matter what the priests and Maesters say, so... maybe they're wrong about him, too. And maybe... maybe he even knows Sir Jecht!_

A feeling of fluttering hope rose up like a trapped bird in her chest, but Yuna pulled it back down, wincing at the pain. Her father was gone, both in mind and memory, and she had to accept that. Sir Jecht and Sir Auron, the two people in all of Spira that might possibly have known her father well enough for her to talk to them about him, were gone, possibly dead. Even if this young man, Tidus (she let the name roll around in her mind. Something about it comforted her), did know Sir Jecht, he probably hadn't been in contact with him for a while, and there was no guarantee that Sir Jecht had told him anything about Braska, anyway.

Well, she could ask him tomorrow and find out for sure. It was a long boat ride to Luca, and if things went well, she would have more than ample opportunity to try and get to know him better.

_Ooh, I hope so_, she wished, rolling over on her side and cradling her head on her hand._ I love Lulu and Wakka and Kimahri dearly, but sometimes it's hard having them so much older than I am. Tidus... Tidus looks like he might understand some of the things they don't. And he seems like such a nice person, and so different from anyone I've met before. Even when he's confused, he's so confident. Maybe some of that confidence can rub off on me. I hope so; I'm going to need all the confidence I can get._

He certainly inspired it. With his sun-blonde hair, laughing blue eyes and fine features, Yuna felt her confidence boosted just by the fact that such an attractive guy would find her so interesting.

_Ohhh, no, don't go there!_ she thought, and pulled the pillow over her head as if it could stifle her blush. All it stifled was her breathing, however, and she quickly had to remove it and gasp in some of the humid night air., though her breathing stilled at the sound of someone moving outside of her window.

"Um, hello? You okay in there?"

Yuna just about died of embarassment as the tanned and concerned (concerned! Something in her liked that. Oh, no, she was going there again) face of Tidus peered in past her shutters. She shook her head mutely and clutched the blankets to her despite the heat, unable to find her tongue.

Tidus' expression turned sheepish and he rubbed the back of his head. "Um, sorry, I, uh, it sort of sounded like someone was in trouble, and, um, I didn't mean to intrude or anything, I just... "

Well, at least she wasn't the only one tongue-tied. "It's okay," Yuna interrupted, before he could ramble further. "Thank you... for being concerned about me."

_That_ just seemed to make him more nervous, and Yuna felt a feeling of dismay rise up. _Did I say something wrong? I don't know how to act around boys!_

_You're not supposed to,_ another version of her voice reminded her. _A Summoner only lives for other people, not for herself._

But some Summoners were married... Yuna stamped on _that_ thought immediately, realized that Tidus was talking, and seized on the welcome distraction.

"Yeah, well, I just thought I should check in on you, since you, y'know, seem to be so important and all... "

Yuna felt her heart fall, and had to work hard to keep back a frown. _So he's only interested in me because I'm a Summoner... _

"... and you seem like a nice person and... and you believe me about Zanarkand... "

That last bit was said with more than small note of hopefulness, and just like that, her heart flipped over again. Yuna gently pressed a hand to her chest underneath the blanket; she had the feeling that she'd have to get used to this feeling around this man. She summoned a smile for him. "Of course I do. But we should probably talk about it tomorrow, and get some rest for tonight; we both have a long journey ahead of us. Right?"

She saw his shoulders relax, and the smile he gave her only served to fuel her own smile even more. "Right. Um, g'night, then."

"Good night."

"See you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow," Yuna echoed, and he was gone with a wave, the fronds outside her window dancing with his passing.

She held her breath for a moment until she was sure he was gone, then let it all out in a rush, falling back onto her bed. Well. That had been interesting.

_He's an interesting kind of person. And I'd better take my own advice and get some rest, if I want to follow up on that conversation I've promised him. It's gotten pretty late._

As she rolled over once more, trying to will herself to sleep, Yuna wondered what the others thought of him, and maybe, just maybe, he would want to go with her. If he was as alert and concerned as he was over something like _that_, he would probably make a wonderful guardian, and a good friend...

But whatever he decided to do, wherever he decided to go, she had met him now, and Yuna had the oddest feeling that this journey would be like nothing before in her life. Tidus was change, and she had met him, and had the strongest feeling that she was being drawn in.

_My journey begins at dawn._

Well, she'd just have to embrace that change with open arms, whatever it might be. Her journey would begin with her first steps tomorrow.

His steps would fall with hers.

And she had the strangest thought, as she finally drifted off to sleep: _All the way... _

**.Finis.Initii.**

**(The End.Of the Beginning.)**

(1) This particular reference is mostly towards the two spellings of Tidus' name. You've got the English "Tidus", and then the Japanese "Tida", which I've heard means "first son", or something like that. Hence, beginnings.


End file.
